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Why Inherited Colonial Language Ideologies Persist in Postcolonial Africa

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Language Policy and Economics: The Language Question in Africa

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Minority Languages and Communities ((PSMLC))

Abstract

The main focus of this chapter is to explain why colonial language ideologies discussed in Chap. 3 and subsequently in Chap. 4 continue to inform language policy and planning in postcolonial Africa. In particular, the chapter reviews the argument, often made in the literature, that the ideology of the nation-state persists in postcolonial Africa because the continent’s linguistic diversity or multilingualism is both a problem and a handicap to development. It reviews this argument against the background of Africa’s arguably monolingual countries, Lesotho and Swaziland, and shows that the argument asserting that multilingualism is a problem is a myth. Instead, it argues that inherited colonial language ideologies persist as a result of at least three interconnected factors, including linguistic instrumentalism: the market value of former colonial languages compared to African languages, Africa’s economic dependency on Western countries, among them former colonial powers, and what Scotton (Language Policy and Political Development. Ablex, 1990) has termed elite closure.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of English, Howard University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Nkonko M. Kamwangamalu

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  1. Nkonko M. Kamwangamalu
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Kamwangamalu, N.M. (2016). Why Inherited Colonial Language Ideologies Persist in Postcolonial Africa. In: Language Policy and Economics: The Language Question in Africa. Palgrave Studies in Minority Languages and Communities. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-31623-3_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-31623-3_6

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-31623-3

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